Comments for Andrew Batson's Blog https://andrewbatson.com
Musings on China, books, economics, jazz, history, et cetera
Tue, 11 Dec 2018 00:57:34 +0000
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Comment on Ideology and the sources of policy error by Craken https://andrewbatson.com/2018/11/16/ideology-and-the-sources-of-policy-error/comment-page-1/#comment-5048
Tue, 11 Dec 2018 00:57:34 +0000http://andrewbatson.com/?p=7484#comment-5048I think the Lehman misstep was a case of incompetence more than ideological rigidity. The people at the political peak in America really are mediocrities for the most part. I also think China’s process of adding ever more deadweight debt to its economic train is driven by incompetence rather than ideology.
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Comment on The US-China trade war as a conflict of values by JB https://andrewbatson.com/2018/10/28/the-us-china-trade-war-as-a-conflict-of-values/comment-page-1/#comment-5019
Sat, 08 Dec 2018 04:06:37 +0000http://andrewbatson.com/?p=7479#comment-5019The current confrontation over trade is just that… A confrontation over trade. I see no evidence that America is willing to trade only with a China that is “progressing toward marketization, rule of law and democratization,” or only with a China that is gradually adopting western values.

To be honest, America does not care whether China adopts western values or not. America simply wants fair trade. There are a number of trade issues: foreign ownership of companies in China (A-shares), forced technology transfers, discriminatory tariffs, and many others.

Addressing trade issues may require policy changes in China, but I think that Sheng and Zhang are incorrect if they view Chinese political reform as a quid pro quo for improved trade relations with America.

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Comment on The Newcastle shipyards in world history by JB https://andrewbatson.com/2018/09/15/the-newcastle-shipyards-in-world-history/comment-page-1/#comment-4888
Tue, 27 Nov 2018 02:39:11 +0000http://andrewbatson.com/?p=7438#comment-4888The way that people think (or, if you prefer, their ideology) is always the decisive factor. The ships are irrelevant to understanding the event; they are effects, not causes.

Had the British not sold the Japanese the ships, they’d have obtained them elsewhere, because their thinking dictated that they obtain them. A mixture of worship of modern Europe, social Darwinism, and Bushidō, Japanese thinking dictated that they must conquer the “backward” Korea. Russia got in the way.

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Comment on What I’ve been listening to lately by tblazko https://andrewbatson.com/2018/11/20/what-ive-been-listening-to-lately-21/comment-page-1/#comment-4820
Tue, 20 Nov 2018 18:09:48 +0000http://andrewbatson.com/?p=7474#comment-4820don’t you plan any Chinese edition?
I tried something like rock overview collection to surprise some peoplehttps://tblazko.wordpress.com/2018/10/28/rock-made-in-china
maybe you can do it with jazz
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Comment on Ideology and the sources of policy error by JB https://andrewbatson.com/2018/11/16/ideology-and-the-sources-of-policy-error/comment-page-1/#comment-4793
Sat, 17 Nov 2018 03:55:10 +0000http://andrewbatson.com/?p=7484#comment-4793In China, ideology may cause the government to lean toward intervention. But that does not mean that the government is less likely to err, since it cannot be known ahead of time (in most cases) whether intervention will prevent or exacerbate contagion.

One can easily imagine circumstances in which rescue of a failing institution induces more institutions to fail in order to be rescued.

We simply do not have, in the East or the West, the understanding of financial interactions required to know, in most cases, whether support of a failing institution will prevent or exacerbate contagion.

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Comment on The US-China trade war as a conflict of values by Calvin Quek https://andrewbatson.com/2018/10/28/the-us-china-trade-war-as-a-conflict-of-values/comment-page-1/#comment-4658
Thu, 01 Nov 2018 07:51:17 +0000http://andrewbatson.com/?p=7479#comment-4658Interesting observations Andrew. There appears to be greater self-reflection over the “China model” in recent days in the official media as well. For example, this commentary appeared in the People’s Daily recently. It calls for “better quality” for BRI projects, which could be read as an implicit acknowledgement that the BRI needs retooling. See here: http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/html/2018-10/29/nw.D110000renmrb_20181029_1-07.htm
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Comment on The US-China trade war as a conflict of values by Andrew https://andrewbatson.com/2018/10/28/the-us-china-trade-war-as-a-conflict-of-values/comment-page-1/#comment-4644
Mon, 29 Oct 2018 00:59:51 +0000http://andrewbatson.com/?p=7479#comment-4644There is also a translation of a similar talk by Zhang Weiying, “The Future World Order Depends on What China Does” from June, at: https://gaodawei.wordpress.com/2018/10/28/zhang-weiying-the-future-world-order-depends-on-what-china-does/
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Comment on What I’ve been listening to lately by daschles https://andrewbatson.com/2018/10/16/what-ive-been-listening-to-lately-20/comment-page-1/#comment-4641
Sat, 27 Oct 2018 18:25:08 +0000http://andrewbatson.com/?p=7461#comment-4641Thanks a lot for recommending the early Jakob Bro. I knew his more recent work but I didn’t know the trilogy before your recommendation. Gorgeous.

On Tue, Oct 16, 2018 at 12:45 PM Andrew Batson’s Blog wrote:

> Andrew posted: ” Johnny Dodds – Blue Clarinet Stomp. Dodds was the > clarinetist in Louis Armstrong’s classic Hot Fives sessions, and these > 1928-29 recordings on his own capture some of that same powerful early jazz > magic. Particularly wonderful are the trios w” >

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Comment on Seizing the moment for artificial intelligence: my take on the US-China rivalry by Craken https://andrewbatson.com/2018/10/03/seizing-the-moment-for-artificial-intelligence-my-take-on-the-us-china-rivalry/comment-page-1/#comment-4500
Tue, 09 Oct 2018 08:33:03 +0000http://andrewbatson.com/?p=7464#comment-4500The economic ramifications of AI are almost beside the point compared to the 2 wild cards.

First, can the world’s major militaries successfully assimilate this technology? It looks likely to increase the risks of error (Dr. Strangelove?). But, the logic of strategy necessitates AI in the militaries, and strongly incentivizes the riskiest and newest iterations.

The other wild card of AI acceleration–much less noticed–is its effects on human social relations and psychology. It will be very profitable for businesses to develop AI systems that relentlessly improve their capacity to influence client decision making. That process would include individually tailoring advertisements and other communications; some of this already happens online. And, short of timely regulations, the logic of strategy again predominates. Obviously, governments also have mind manipulation incentives. AI is potentially the ultimate facilitator for tyranny. The risks of this new tech are badly misunderstood and therefore underestimated. A great essay discussing one of the best books on this second wild card: https://rsbakker.wordpress.com/2016/10/20/visions-of-the-semantic-apocalypse-a-critical-review-of-yuval-noah-hararis-homo-deus/

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Comment on What I’ve been listening to lately by dieterernst https://andrewbatson.com/2018/09/06/what-ive-been-listening-to-lately-19/comment-page-1/#comment-4244
Fri, 07 Sep 2018 04:21:05 +0000http://andrewbatson.com/?p=7422#comment-4244Andrew, what a nice surprise that you like Harisiadis. My first wife was from Epirus, and his music is “second home” yours, dieter
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